Monday, May 15, 2017

Toronto Star Columnist Suggests We Dispense With "Gendered Holidays"

It’s happened yet again.

A couple of days after I wrote a
piece suggesting that progressives were about to start targeting “Mother’s Day”
and “Father’s Day,” a columnist for the Toronto Star has suggested we dispense
with “gendered holidays,” as they have proven “painful,” “exclusionary,” and
are a “drag for non-binary parents who don’t identify with a single gender.”

That
sentiment is a “drag” for those of us not in drag.

The columnist, Emma Teitel, wrote
that “some of these parents” are advocating “for the creation of a brand new
holiday to recognize parents who aren’t male or female.” They have even
proposed a name and a date for the new observance. “Non-Binary Parent’s Day”
would be July 17th. That name is direct in an ironically binary
sense. There is a day for “binary” parents and would now be one for “non-binary
parents.” Two sides of the same coin, so to speak. Heads or tails? Or both?

But what if a parent doesn’t fit
into either the binary or non-binary
categories? Wouldn’t that be “painful” and “exclusionary?”

Teitel also notes how difficult
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be for those who’ve lost their parents or
don’t have good relations with them. In order to alleviate the terrible toll
the annual days to honor moms and dads have taken on us, she herself proposes
that we “scrap” both days for good, and replace them with “Guardian’s Day.” (In
my post, “Progressives Now Frowning On The Observance Of Mother’s Day,” May 11,
2017, I suggested ‘Parental Unit’s Day’ as the holiday’s name).

Come to think of it, isn’t Memorial
Day a bit difficult for those who’ve lost loved ones in the service of their
country? Wouldn’t it be easier on all of us if we didn’t observe it? Perhaps we
should just replace it with a new,
less painful, more inclusive holiday? Whether you’re dead or alive, served in
the military or didn’t serve, what the hell, “Non-Commemoratory Day” is for
you!

Anyway, Ms. Teitel
avers that Guardian’s Day “has a
nice sci-fi fantasy ring to it” and could be “a rotating statutory holiday —
meaning you can celebrate it any day you please, and you can interpret it any
way you like. A guardian can be a mom, a dad, a non-binary parent, a
grandparent, an aunt, an uncle, a pet owner, or why the heck not — somebody who
takes really good care of his houseplants.”

I propose we observe
a “Non-Binary Morality Day.” Celebrate it any day you please, any way you want.
Interpret it any way you like. Why the heck not? After all, it “has a nice sci-fi
fantasy ring to it,” does it not?

Daily Trivia Quiz Answer

Today's Answer: Andrew Jackson. ("Poll" got so worked up before the service he apparently had to be removed from the premises, as he was cussing long and loud).

Q) What words appear on the front of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, alongside the likeness of presidents?

A) "Liberty" and "In God We Trust"

An Ode To Life

Appreciate all you have, as it- and you- will soon be gone. Leave no heartfelt words unspoken, no sweet gesture incomplete, no act of love undone. Love your spouse with passion and abandon, your kids with patience and understanding but also a firm guidance. Love also the truth, no matter how hard. If pursued by enough people with enough courage, it really will set us free.

And don't forget, we didn't ask to be born. We didn't create ourselves. We are not gods. There is a higher power.

Fireworks of the Mind

Write It Up

Whence Shall Come Another?

True Then, True Now

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."- Winston Churchill

Time Well Wasted

The power lies within your hands To do with what you may But the hourglass is filled with sands Of endless yesterdays